Car-roof construction.



N0- 684,28|. Patented 001i. 8, IQUI. L C MARSHALL GAR ROOF CUNSTBUCTIUN.

(Lpplication filed July 8, 1901.

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UN T STAT P T NT OFFICE-Q LEWIS O. MARSHALL, OF EAST WALPOLE,MASSACHUSETTS.

CAR-ROOF CONSTRUCTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,281, dated October8, 1901.

Application filed July 8,1901. Serial No- 67A49. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEWIS O. MARSHALL, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at East Walpole, in the county of Norfolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Car- RoofConstructions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a car-roof construction, and especially to theconstruction of freight-car roofs, the object of the invention being theprovision of means for applying to the subroof of a freight-car sheetsof metal roofing which while forming a tight joint with the subraftersand ridge-timbers of the roof may be securely maintained in placewithout being nailed to the car at any point, tothe end that thetorsional movements of the car may not cause a break in theroofing-plates and whereby an imperfect sheet may be easily and quicklyreplaced; and the invention consists in the construction hereinafterfully described and more particularly set forth in the claim.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a car-roof embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is aperspective view of a metal roofing-plate constructed according to myinvention and is shown more or less shortened. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional view of a portion of a roof, showing the engagement of theupper end with the ridge-timber and the lower end resting against theouter facia=board.

In carrying out my invention the car-roof is constructed in the manneremployed in double-roof constructions-viz., with a subroof (indicated by2) and an outer roof (indicated by 3.) The space between these roofs isdivided into rectangular sections by the subrafters 4: and theridge-timber 5. The upper edge of the sides of the car is finished off,as usual, by the inner facia-board 6. The ends of the subrafters 4 areflush with the outer surface of the inner facia-boards, and at the endsof the subrafters the blocks 7 are secured, against which the outerfaciaboard 8 is removably secured. By this construction there isprovided a space between the outer and inner facia-boards whichcommunicates with the space between the inner and the outer roofs,whichis divided, as stated,

into sections of an area which may be con veniently covered by one sheetof roofing material.

The working of the timbers of a freightca'r, due to the heavy loadcarried bythe latter and the inequalities of the road-bed, has made itrather difficult to provide a suitable roofing for freight cars whichwould not break or work out of place and yet be found not too expensive,while easy of application and renewal. This has been especiallydifficult where metal roofing material has been employed, it having beenespecially difficult to properly secure the plates in their positionbetween the roofs in such manner as to in sure their retention in theirproper places under all conditions without being directly attached tothe car. Furthermore, difficulty has been experienced in making atightjoint at the junction of the upper edge of the metal plate with theridge-timber. My invention seeks to overcome these difficulties byproviding means for securing the roofing-plates in position between thesubroof 2 and the outer roof 3 in such manner as to retain them securelyin position without attaching them to the car at any point and inproviding means for preventing the wind from driving water up againstthe side of the ridge-timber 5 and forcing it over the upper end of theplate, and in carrying out my invention the subrafters 4 are providedwith the upwardly-inclined slots 9, formed in opposite edges of thesubrafter,longitudinally thereof,substantially as shown in my UnitedStates Letters Patent, dated July 5, 1898, No. 606,996. These subrafters4 are spaced a suitable distance apart and extend from side of the innerfacia-board 6 to the ridge-timber 5, the sides of the latter beingprovided with a groove 10, running lengthwise thereof. Before applying aplate of roofing material (indicated in the drawings by 11) the latteris corrugated in the direction running from the side to the ridge of thecar. These corrugations are formed on long easy curves and they mayextend from the lower edge of the plate up to the opposite edge to theirfull depth or they may run out toa plane surface before they reach theupper edge, as desired. The edges 12 of the plate parallel with thecorrugations are bent upwardly to adapt them to enter the slots 9 in thesubtouch but lightly upon the inner surface of 'rugations in the plate.

rafters 4c, The upper edge of the plate is bent backwardly upon itself,as shown at 13, Figs. 1 and 2, said backwardly-curved portion beingadapted tofit closely in the groove 10 in the ridge-timber 5, and whenthe plate is slid into position,with its recurved upper end bearingagainst the bottom of the groove 10, the lower edge thereof will justclear or at most the outer facia-board 2. The said lower end of theplate 11 is cut back from the lower edge thereof toward the side of thecar for a distance equaling nearly the distance between the inner andouter facia-boards,these cutsbe ing made one at each side of the highestpoint on the convex portions of the corrugations. The metal between saidconvex portionsthat is to say, that lying opposite the concaveportions-is bent downwardly close against the side of the innerfacia-board, and thus constitutes an apron 14 at the end of each gutter,formed by the concave portions of the cor- The bending down of theseportions of the plate leaves projections (indicated by 15) between them,which projections are considerably narrower and oncupy the highest pointof the convex portions, as stated, which bear against the inner side ofthe outer facia-board 8 and serve to retain the plate 11 in its properrelation to the ridgetilnber 5. All the water which may find its waythrough the outer roof 3 will be gathered into the concaved portions ofthe plate 11 and from thence run down over the apron 1i and thus downthe side of the car. By removing the outer facia-board any plate 11 maybe drawn out and another slipped into its place, no fastening of anykind existing between the plate and the car.

The points where the cuts are made in the lower end of the plate topermit the bending down of the metal between them to form the apron 14are somewhat above the level of the upper edge of the facia-board 6, andthe gutters formed by the concave portions of the plate 11 are of suchwidth and the plate itself has such a pitch that the Water can readilyrun off over the said aprons before said gutters can be filled farenough to raise the ee4,2si

Water to the level of the two corners of the 56 V such form as to permitits easy entrance in said slot, all as clearly shown in said figure.

This, however, is not as desirable in mode of construction, for thereason that it is very difficnlt to enter the edge of the plate in saidslot after pulling out an old plate for thereason that the space betweenthe two roofs'is so narrowand dark that the edge of the plate cannot bereadily guided into said slot in case it misses it when first slid in.With the construction shown in Fig. 1, however, no such difficulty isexperienced. j

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is- V In a carroof of the classdescribed, the combination with a subroof, of subrafters thereon V Ihaving longitndinally-extending slots in the sides thereof for receivingthe edges of a sheet of roofing material, a ridge-timber having a sidegroove located in substantially the same plane as said slots, a sheet ofroofing material whose sides and upper end are adapted to enter saidslots and groove respectively; corrugations in said sheet extending tothe side of the car, portions of the lower edge of.

the sheet in which the concave corrugations are located being bent backagainst the side of the car, the portions between the backwardly-bentportions extending across the space between the side of the car and theouter facia-board, whereby the sheet is held in place, substantially asdescribed.

LEWIS O. MARSHALL. \Vitnesses:

' E. A. TAPLEY,

F. A. MoRRILL.

66 then bending the upper edge of the plate in V V

